Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job processing system that accepts, through an external terminal, an operation to set a job to be input to a job processing apparatus. The present invention also relates to the job processing apparatus and a program for the system or the apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Jobs can be remotely input to some job processing apparatuses such as image forming apparatuses and multifunction peripherals that execute jobs including copy jobs and print jobs. In such a remote job operation, a remote operation panel or a mobile terminal that is independent of any job processing apparatus is used.
Methods that can be used in inputting a job from a terminal to an apparatus include the first method and the second method described below.
By the first method, the data of an operation screen is transmitted from the apparatus to a terminal. The terminal that has received the data displays the operation screen, and accepts an operation from a user through the operation screen. When an operation is received, location information indicating the location of the operation on the operation screen is transmitted to the apparatus. The apparatus that has received the location information from the terminal recognizes the contents of the operation received from the user, in accordance with information about the operation screen transmitted to the terminal and the location information received from the terminal.
By the second method, a terminal displays an operation screen for accepting a job input. When an operation is accepted through the operation screen, the terminal recognizes the contents of the operation. The terminal then creates setting information about the corresponding job, and transmits the setting information to the apparatus. For example, when a job input operation is completed, the terminal creates job setting information that reflects the contents of all the operations accepted so far, and transmits the job setting information to the apparatus.
JP 2015-136812 A discloses a technology relating to an image forming apparatus having operation panels that can be attached to the apparatus in a detachable manner. In this image forming apparatus, IDs are allotted to the respective operation panels. When a job is to be input from an operation panel to the apparatus, the job and the ID of the operation panel are transmitted to the apparatus. In this manner, a job that has been input from an operation panel with an ID can be suspended or aborted only from an operation panel having the same ID, and can be suspended or aborted from a privileged operation panel having a different ID.
In a case where a job is input from a terminal using the first method, the data of an operation screen needs to be transmitted from the apparatus to the terminal, every time the operation screen changes or switches to a different state upon receipt of a user operation. Furthermore, every time the terminal receives an operation, the location information about the operation is transmitted to the apparatus. As a result, data is frequently transmitted through wireless communication by the first method, and therefore, many operations are affected by communication failures.
By either of the first and second methods, the battery might run out during a job input operation.
When a job input operation is suspended or aborted due to such a failure, all the operations performed so far are discarded, and a large amount of labor is wasted if complicated settings have been made.
In view of this, it would be convenient if a job input operation that has been partially completed by one terminal can be taken over and continued by another terminal. However, a job input operation can be transferred only between terminals using the same method.
For example, in a case where a communication failure occurs during a job input operation with a terminal using the first method, and this operation is to be taken over by another terminal, a similar communication failure is highly likely to occur, and the take-over will fail, if the terminal to take over uses the same first method. In a case where a failure occurs during a job input operation with a terminal using the second method, the only other terminal that can be used might be a terminal using the first method. Therefore, operation take-overs only between terminals using the same method are inconvenient.